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Pam Korda

Here is a summary of What RJ said at the Baltimore Con this weekend. I haven't got time to write a long summary of everything that went on; I will leave the discussion of the social aspects (and anything that happened Friday) to Bill and Robyn... I'll leave the discussion on vegetarianism to Bill and Robyn, too.

Robert Jordan

We went to RJ's Guest of Honor speech on Saturday, he talked about the importance of literacy, nothing about the Wheel of Time. Bill, Hawk and I assaulted him afterwards and asked a few questions, or, rather, listened to him talk to other folks.

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Robert Jordan

He says that unabridged books-on-tape production of The Eye of the World and A Crown of Swords are forthcoming. When, I dunno; I got the impression it was still a rather nebulous plan, but Tor (or whoever) has agreed to do them. The two mentioned above will be the first released, and the intermediary books will come out on tape in due course. The idea is to get a woman to read the parts which are in a woman's POV and a man to read the parts in a man's POV. Marina Sirtis of Star Trek fame, and Ben Kingsley were mentioned as possible readers.

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Pam Korda

Hawk found a way to get RJ's attention. Brandish a whip. You see, RJ IS a dirty old man.

That was it for Saturday. On Sunday was the reading. He read a piece from A Crown of Swords. (I'll put it in a separate post, to avoid spoiling anybody even a bit. It wasn't a very plot-intensive bit, though. Fewer spoilers than the Prologue has!) It was a Mat bit. After the reading, he talked about Mat as a character a bit.

Robert Jordan

Anyway, Mat has indeed had far and away more MPS experience than our other young heroes, and intends to get much much more. I believe the quote was something like "The world is full of beautiful women, and Mat wants to romp barefoot though them all. (or was that with them all. same thing.) He's slept with lots of women; he's slept with women old enough to be his mother..."

Also, Mat makes the Aes Sedai nervous.

Sigh, and if RJ had shown all of this "on-screen," y'all wouldn't be complaining about the lack of explicit sex in TWOT!!! (And the books would read like The Fallon Blood.)

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Question

Some dude asked if Perrin's hawk had appeared yet.

Robert Jordan

The answer: "I thought that was fairly obvious. What is the symbol of Mayene? What is the CROWN of Mayene?" i.e. Berelain, for all of you who actually doubted that. RJ also said Berelain is attracted to Perrin partly because he's the first man she wanted and couldn't get which is interesting, partly because he's buff, and partly because she thinks it'd be kinky to make it with a blacksmith. (On the anvil???)

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Robert Jordan

In Ebou Dar, if a woman kills a man, it is justified unless proven otherwise.

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Robert Jordan

Red Ajah: Not all of them are rabid man-haters. There are some moderates. However, as a Red, whose primary mission is to stop channeling by males, one must view all men as potential enemies. This makes it hard to have any kind of normal relationship with men, "especially after 20, 30, 50, 100 years of such a mentality." (note the "100 years")

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Robert Jordan

Mat's Foxy Medallion: As we surmised, it works by blocking direct channeling of both saidin and saidar, and its weakness is that it doesn't protect against indirect effects, like lightning.

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Question

When did Mat die and live again?

Robert Jordan

He said something that implied that the die and live again prophecy-fulfillment was the lightning incident in The Fires of Heaven, and not the hanging incident in The Shadow Rising. I was always sure it was the other way around. To paraphrase the Humblest Man on the Net: Who's this guy to tell me such things? He just wrote the books.

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Robert Jordan

Elaida and her Foretelling: Most Foretellers' Foretellings are very vague and poetic-sounding, making it difficult to tell what, actually, WAS foretold before it actually happens. Elaida, on the other hand, has very clear, definite Foretellings. She says stuff like "John will die"—not much vagueness about that. (Of course, Elaida often misinterprets it.)

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Robert Jordan

The oaths: They are quite subjective; if an Aes Sedai believes she is not lying, then the Oath doesn't stop her. So, that is what was going on in the torturing part of Lord of Chaos. It depends on the psychology of the individual. It's like spanking a naughty child. Some people regard that as child abuse; some people regard it as reasonable punishment.

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Robert Jordan

Background: I asked him how much of the setting, etc. was worked out before hand, and how much he does as he goes along. He said that he has a 10pp or so history of all the countries/regions, and societies. When the plot goes into a region, he fleshes out the outline.

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Robert Jordan

The Guide to the Wheel of Time: Out sometime this year, I think. Art by Todd Hamilton—anybody know if this guy has done anything we'd recognize? At least it isn't DKS! Stuff that will be in there: History of Artur Hawkwing, History of the Post-Breaking Aes Sedai, the Seanchan, the Aiel War and the final battle outside Tar Valon.

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Robert Jordan

The length of the series: He's given up guessing how long it will be. He knows the final scene, and he knows how all the plot elements will work out: who will be married, who will be dead, what plot elements will be left unresolved. (Subtext: somebody will get married, somebody will get killed.)

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Robert Jordan

Tam: He has basically put together all the stuff he's heard, and knows that Rand is the Dragon Reborn, although he hasn't admitted it to himself yet.

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Robert Jordan

Erith the Ogier was described as Loial's "fiancee." I guess Erith and Loial's mom came to an agreement...

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Robert Jordan

The Fallon Blood: It was originally longer, but it was cut in editing. Apparently, they cut out all the plot, and left in the raunchy bits.

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Robert Jordan

Asmodean: Rand thinks Asmodean has run away back to the Dark One, and will try to sneak back in through the Asha'man.

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Robert Jordan

How learning to use the One Power works: The older you are, the faster you reach your full potential. Men reach their full strength faster than women. Forced training makes you learn faster, but it is very dangerous—it can kill you, or burn you out. The Asha'man are being trained that way, and the casualties of the training show this. (X number dead, Y number burned out...) Egwene, and Elayne and Nynaeve have also experienced forced training.

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Robert Jordan

Fel was killed because somebody thought he might reveal too much.

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Dom from Wotmania, etc. believes that Sammael (who is known to have controlled the gholam, which is known to have killed Fel from the Lord of Chaos epilogue) had Fel killed because he did not believe Asmodean was dead, and thought Fel was Asmodean in disguise.

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Robert Jordan

Verin: Considerably older than anyone expects. (I presume he was talking about the characters, not the fans, considering that our guesses range up to 3000 years old.) He also said that Age of Legends lifespans are not known in modern Randland. (Thus, I presume that Verin is NOT 300 years old.) He said something about "the effects of the Oath Rod," I don't know whether this was with reference to aging, or effects on something totally unrelated.